Not Surprising

I received another weather warning on my phone last night. This time, it wasn’t about another round of plowable snow, but it comes as no surprise that they’ve issued a flood watch for our county. So, it’s out of the frying pan snow machine and into the fire hip waders for us this week.

Oh, joy.

We’ve got so much snow that our 3-board fence looks short enough in some spots that the horses could high-step their way over it. I think the only thing dissuading them from trying is the deepness of the snow on the other side.

We are due to get significant rain tomorrow and Thursday, without anywhere for it to soak in. There are bound to be a number of new rivers and lakes formed in the days ahead.

We’ll probably have the horses in the barn while it is raining, and the chickens will be given the option of venturing out at their own peril, but I’m not confident either of their structures will stay dry.

At least the coop is on stilts. The wood is shrunk from the dry winter air, so there are some gaps in places, I suspect, but it swells up nicely when it gets wet, so that just leaves drips from a few leaky screws in the roof panels.

The barn, on the other hand, is already suffering from areas that were once standing water that subsequently froze and rendered the two big sliding doors inoperable. More water on top of the old ice will not only make that situation worse, it will inevitably start flowing toward the lower ground available inside.

4 Responses

Re: forecasts, from afar, I get the impression that more often than not, you are fighting dragons twice. You remind me of someone who gets up on Monday morning completely exhausted, having worked at all the week’s woes in your sleep before even waking up. Tackling problems this way may leave you severely depleted. Rather, after a successful day, you might acknowledge that you have done your best and now deserve a good night’s sleep. After sleeping soundly, you will find yourself refreshed and more than up to the new day’s challenges – re-energized! Try it… it is the way our ancestors did it and they got us here after all:-) So yes, let sleep super-charge you and connect you with all that is. Easier said than done, of course.

I appreciate your perspective. You are right on about sleep! I’m reading: WHY WE SLEEP
Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
By Matthew Walker and have learned a lot about the incredible restorative functions going on while we slumber. It IS helping me wake up energized to face whatever weather adventure Mother Nature has in store.
I suppose I might try writing less about the challenges in advance, eh?

Well, yes: life is a mind-game, isn’t it? The good news is that looking back, you come out of it ahead of the game. I guess the trick is to tame the dragons… and you do do that to a large extent. I still see your mole-like gleeful face as you came out of nine feet of briar laid to rest, such that bounty unfolded and is unfolding to this very day. Only you!